Issue - meetings

The Report of the Deputy Chief Executive is attached.

A procedure note which explains what happens at a Licensing Sub-Committee, follows.

The Chairman introduced members and officers present and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chairman asked the applicant, Responsible Authorities and representees to introduce themselves and explained the procedure for the hearing.

He then invited the Principal Solicitor to address the hearing in relation to some correspondence that had been received the previous day regarding the lease for the premises.

The Principal Solicitor explained that the solicitor acting for the landlord of Unit 5 Thames Edge Court had indicated they were not in a position to grant a lease for the premises, to Bakshish Ltd, due to some relevant information being outstanding. Consequently the landlord stated they could not support the licensing application and requested that the hearing be adjourned. She invited the applicant to explain the current situation with regards the lease, to the Sub-Committee. Mr Singh and Mr Manik (Directors of Bakshish) stated that Heads of Terms for the lease were agreed but they were not going to sign the lease until the licensing application had been determined.

The Chairman adjourned the meeting to enable the Sub-Committee to determine whether the hearing should proceed at this time.

During the adjournment the Sub-Committee had sight of an email provided by the applicant setting out Heads of Terms agreed with the agent.

Upon reconvening, the Chairman made the following statement:

“The Sub-Committee has considered the letter presented by the solicitor acting for the head lessor against the information provided by the applicant this morning and has concluded that Heads of Terms have only been agreed with the agent (Prestigic Holdings).  The head landlord (Holaw 431 Limited) is not in agreement with those terms, additionally money laundering and financial information to initiate discussions have not been provided at this stage.  Consequently the granting of a lease by Holaw 431 Limited to Bakshish Limited does not appear to be viable at this time. 

The Sub-Committee acknowledges that the applicant states they are not signing the lease until this application has been determined.  However, the Sub-Committee considers that there are more fundamental issues to be resolved before a lease is contemplated by the landlord.  Therefore, the hearing is adjourned with general liberty to restore until such time as the applicant can demonstrate to the Licensing Authority that the landlord has agreed to enter into a viable lease.”

Resolved to adjourn the hearing until such time as the applicant can demonstrate to the Licensing Authority that the landlord has agreed to enter into a viable lease.

The Report of the Deputy Chief Executive is attached.

A procedure note which explains what happens at a Licensing Sub-Committee, follows.

The Chairman opened the meeting and invited the Head of Corporate Governance to explain some issues of concern.

The Head of Corporate Governance explained that one of the members appointed to the Sub-Committee was not able to attend due to the weather conditions. Additionally the Sub-Committee was concerned that the police had not been able to send a representative to attend the hearing.

Due to the sensitive long history of this site, which attracted a great deal of public interest, it was not considered appropriate to proceed with only two members of the Sub-Committee. It was therefore decided to adjourn the hearing to a date when both the police and all three members of the Sub-Committee could be present.

None of the parties present made any representations or observations on this proposal.

Resolved to adjourn the hearing to a date to be agreed when all parties would be available to attend.